(Certain details have been altered to protect the identity of those involved)

Although I have never been a Jehovah’s Witness, I have been to roughly 15 of their annual memorial services. The Witnesses celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal (what most Christians refer to as communion) only once a year. Before I describe the events of the evening, I’ll give a short summary of what usually happens at this ceremony.

Since this is the only religious holiday Jehovah’s Witnesses celebrate, attendance at Kingdom Halls for this service is much like Christmas and Easter is for Christians. If you are associated with the Witnesses in any way, and you could only make one meeting all year, this would be the meeting. Parking lots are filled and everyone is wearing their Sunday best. The service starts just after sunset. Since there is limited space at Kingdom Halls, sometimes the Witnesses will rent out public halls or hotel conference rooms. They also have a later meeting at 9:00 to accommodate everyone who wants to attend.

The meeting begins with an announcement for everyone to begin finding their seats. The building is usually packed so they want to make sure everyone is seated before they begin. A very respected man (an elder or someone of greater authority), will stand up in front of the audience and give a presentation that lasts approximately 45 minutes. Read More …

These articles have created quite a stir among both Mormons and critics of the Mormon Church alike. The most recent of these articles went viral about a week after it was released when the New York Times published an article on their front page titled, “It’s Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives.”

This information is very upsetting to many Mormons and reports are heard of Mormons in high positions being stumbled in their faith by what they are reading. Some Mormons in South America are rejecting the stories until they can read it for themselves in Spanish. Needless to say, many Mormons are at a crisis in their faith because they are finding out that critics of the Mormon Church have been telling the truth for all of these years. They now realize that it was the Mormon Church which had not been truthful.

This video, while humorous, is an accurate depiction of how many Mormons will feel when they find out about this information. It is not meant to mock, or make light of how they feel, but is instead an effort to initiate conversations between Christians and Mormons about this important new admission by the LDS Church. It is also a reminder to Christians that they need to be ready to comfort their Mormon friends as they may be experiencing feelings of betrayal by their Church.

Please share this video with anyone you know who has an interest in Mormonism.

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about the 100th anniversary of Watchtower false prophecy. This blog post is about a video I did about an article I wrote in our newsletter. Wow, that’s three different mediums. I think I’ll post this on Twitter too. Anyway, enjoy the video. I’ll also post the article below for your convenience. I know people enjoy references just about as much as I do and all the references are included in the article.

Please take this unique opportunity to take advantage of… this… unique… opportunity. Yeah, um. I mean, share it with your Jehovah’s Witness family, friends, loved ones and any random Witness who knocks on your door.Read More …

Our meeting started off like they usually do with about a half hour of small talk. My Jehovah’s Witness Pioneer friend’s wife use to be a little aggravated by the amount of time we spend talking, but I think she has come around. She and I did most of the talking about any number of random things. One interesting thing to note is that she noticed the bookmark that I use for my Teach book. I told her that my daughter made it for me as a CHRISTmas gift last year.

She took the CD case of one of my favorite CHRISTmas albums, photo copied it, colored it in and then taped it together in the form of a bookmark as if it was laminated. It isn’t the prettiest thing, but I use it because it is from my daughter. As I was showing them my bookmark, I explained that the artist (Gary Hoey) has a couple of CHRISTmas albums that I really enjoy. I then told them about my favorite CHRISTmas album of all time. It is called “Sleddin’ Hill” by August Burns Red. If you are into heavy music, this album is for you. Every year when my kids and I put the CHRISTmas lights up on our house, I have that album blaring out of the garage. Read More …

Our meeting began the same way it usually does. We talked for roughly 30 minutes about a number of topics. Since this is the beginning of the school year, most of our conversation was about our kids and school. It was also nice that my Pioneer friend brought his wife again. Although there are benefits to me talking to him alone, I’d rather talk to the both of them together. Neither of them is argumentative or overly aggressive and the three of us get along great. I guess what I like best about them being together is that they BOTH get to hear my objections and reasoning at the same time. Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on their wall when they get home and talk about our discussions.

JW1: We start a new chapter today, “What is God’s Purpose for the Earth?” This should be interesting. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read it yet.